okay, tonight i was driving home from my girlfriend's house and the electric tape connected to my switch overheated and was melting. I could smell the melted tape, so I unplugged the wires immediatley from the switch. i have my wiring connected directly to my battery, to a 15A fuse, to my switch, with grounding from switch, and the switch completes the circuit. is this right or wrong? thanks for the help all. I will be adding more lights on the top, back of my KJ and want to know if this is right or wrong.

I'm not even close to an expert, but switch basically directly connected to the battery doesn't sound right. I used this diagram as a guide when i wired up my bumper mounted fog lights:

My only deviation was using a 20A fuse instead of a 30A.

Technically, your circuit makes sense and works, but chances are that switch is not rated for the current that the lights are drawing, and you're right, electrical tape won't be very happy, either. The wires themselves may have been melting as well (what gauge did you use?) You definitely did the right thing by unplugging it at the first sign (smell?) of trouble. It wouldn't be hard for miswired lights to burn the KJ down, and that would be a tragedy.

The typically suggested way to hook up anything that requires a lot of current (ie, lights), is to use a relay. Basically, the relay acts as the switch for the lights. You run a very thick wire from the lights through the relay and to the battery for power. The other side of the relay just runs a small wire to a switch. The switch can run off a very small current, but when it makes contact, there's a mechanical switch inside the relay that switches on the lights.

The graphic shown above is exactly what you'll need to do. I'd actually suggest fusing both the 30A to the battery as well as fusing the 12V line for the switch (maybe with a 5 or 10A, even smaller is probably fine). In the graphic, you can see the 12 AWG wire is for the lights and the smaller 16 AWG is for the switch.

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Jeff 2005 Jeep Liberty Renegade
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this weekend i will take these new steps. I won't be able to use my lights now, unfortunately, but thanks so much for the help!

You want your fuse to be as close to the battery as possible and to be rated for no more current than the weakest link in the system. If your switch is rated for 20A and your fuse for 30A then you'll melt the switch before the fuse blows. All of the wire between the fuse and the battery is unprotected and will melt if shorted, which is why you want the fuse as close to the battery as possible. If you can find a switch that can handle the current your lamps draw then you won't even need a relay. Otherwise, Boi1ermaker's got it right.

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